Scott Lang Is More Concerned With Being a Father Than a Superhero

Being a father is more important to Scott Lang than being a hero in Ant-Man and The Wasp. There have been several different types of characters to take on the hero mantles of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Whether its billionaires, super soldiers, demi-gods, sorcerers, or anything else in between, each are primarily focused on saving the world. That isn't the case for Paul Rudd's Scott Lang. He quickly found himself in the superhero world after being released from prison and it hasn't been the easiest transition.

Lang was all but forced to take on the Ant-Man mantle and has done a great job since doing so, but it came at a cost. His extracurricular activities took him to Germany, where he fought against and alongside many MCU heroes, but the results found him once again incarcerated. He's free once Ant-Man and The Wasp rolls around and rejoining the superhero ranks isn't Lang's top priority.

Screen Rant had the chance to talk to Paul Rudd during Ant-Man and The Wasp's set visit last year. During the interview, Rudd was asked about Lang's mindset during the sequel and how it impacts the character. It was the regular parts of Lang that Rudd found most appealing and is excited to show the difficulty that comes with being a superhero and a parent.

Can you talk a little bit about what he’s thinking after everything that went down in the Civil War because one of the things I liked about Iron Man 3 is it’s not necessarily going ‘Oh, this happened, this happened, this happened or remember this.’ You know how Tony Stark feels after he went through that. And [executive producer] Stephen [Broussard] said a little earlier that, you know, Scott doesn’t really want to be a hero, he wants to step away. So can you talk a little bit about that on a personal level?

Paul Rudd: Well, I like the idea of playing a superhero that is not innately heroic or super in any way, just you know, a regular person. And I like the idea also of not embracing the role because of all of the difficulties that we come along with having to be so badass, and how it would affect your life and how would it affect your relationships and certainly your being a responsible parent, and so to kind of wrestle with those questions. We did a little bit in the first one, but you know, it’s certainly now more pronounced.

I mean, I just keep getting in trouble. It seems like, starting in the house. First when, I’m in jail. Now I’m in jail in my house. And then I got put away in Civil War too, I’m a repeat offender.

We see you get in constant trouble. Talk about how Scott feels about X-Con home security business that they started.

Well I think excited about that because, it’s him making an honest go of it and it’s hard. It’s hard out there for a pimp. You got to try and make -- you got to try and make a living and we’re giving it a shot and I think we’d be pretty good at the business. So, I’m all for it. They have a little office but it’s also weird, I’m under house arrest so I haven’t really seen it.

Scott's insistence on being a good and present father was a major part of his character in Ant-Man so it is comforting to know they aren't abandoning that aspect for the sequel. If anything, the writers (which Rudd is one of) only doubled down on this aspect after Captain America: Civil War. It was there that Ant-Man was arrested by Thunderbolt Ross and placed in The Raft, only to be released to house arrest after. Ultimately, Scott will get back into the superhero action, but why he does could be an important question the sequel answers.

So far the Ant-Man franchise has been heavily focused on family making the decision from Scott to take a step back completely believable. He already missed years of his daughter Cassie's life during his first jail stint and he doesn't want to miss out again, especially since he finally was welcomed back at the end of Ant-Man. This will hardly be the only family dynamic at play in Ant-Man and The Wasp either as Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) continue to work things out, all while the return of wife and mother Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) looms large over the sequel.